Everything you need to know to get started with your first LinkedIn Conversation Ad

1. Conversation Ads
Getting Started Guide

2. The market landscape is
changing, which offers both
challenges and opportunities
for marketers

3. Trends that marketers can no longer ignore
More time is being spent on
on social messaging apps
B2B sales cycles are
getting shorter
The buying experience
matters
This is shifting the way people communicate
with each other and businesses. 89% of
consumers would like to use messaging wit
h businesses but only 48% of them are using
messaging to engage with prospects 1
Sources: 1) Twilio Consumer Report , 2) Adobe 2019 Digital Trends, 3) LinkedIn Enlightened Tech Report (2019)
8 in 10 of buyers say that the
experience a company provides
is as important as its products
and services 2
Marketers now need to make
every interaction count by
delivering a relevant marketing
message to the right person at
the right time 3

4. Introducing
Messaging Ads
Engage your buyers in LinkedIn
Messaging, where professional
conversations happen

5. LinkedIn
Messaging
Ads
Reach buyers on LinkedIn Messaging
Provide a better buying experience
for your target audience
Accelerate your pipeline

6. Engage your buyers on LinkedIn Messaging,
where professional conversation happen
Accelerate your
pipeline
Drive more website traffic
and generate more leads
with features like Lead Gen
Forms and automated call-
to-actions buttons
Set up interactive
messages that make it
easy for buyers to get
the content and
offerings they want,
when they want
Reach buyers on
LinkedIn Messaging
Send direct one-on-one
messages to prospects
where they increasingly
spend most of their time --
and where professional
conversations happen
Provide a better
buying experience for
your target audience

7. Messaging Ads come in two flavors:
Conversation AdMessage Ad BETA

8. Message Ad
Send direct messages to your buyers to spark immediate action
Deliver a targeted message with a single CTA
Fully convey your message to your buyers without having
to worry about character limits
Drive stronger engagement than traditional
email marketing
Messages are delivered to an uncluttered messaging
environment so that your brand stands out
Measure the impact of your messages
Measure the value you’re getting by seeing which roles
and companies are taking action on your message

9. Conversation Ads
Start quality conversations with a choose-your-own adventure experience
Deliver multiple offerings and types of content
Set up multiple call-to-actions buttons that can drive
buyers to your various landing pages
Provide a more relevant experience to
accelerate results
Like a conversation, give your buyers the info they need in
bits, not in bulk, to provide a more engaging experience
Better understand your buyer’s intentions
Gather information on what content and offers matter to
your audience and optimize the conversation to turn them
into confident buyers

10. Use Messaging Ads to help you drive mid-to-lower funnel
marketing objectives
● Increase event and webinar registrations
● Share free trials and product demos
● Drive more website visits
● Boost asset downloads
● Increase program enrollments

11. How do conversation ads work?
Ads are delivered to LinkedIn
Messaging (just like message
ads)
Buyers can click on any of the
buttons you set up, which will
dictate how they proceed
through the conversation.
Marketers using conversation
ads in the beta see 2x higher
CTR vs message ad
BETA

12. Let’s get started.

13. Sections
Ad Specs & Best Practices
How To: Set Up Your Conversation
Ads Campaign
How To: Get Reporting from CMT &
Evaluate Campaign Performance

14. Ad Specs &
Best PracticesEverything you need to build out a
Conversation Ad

15. Conversation Ads Specs & Asset Requirements
Character Limits: Total Characters
CTA Buttons 25
Message Copy 500
Max CTA Buttons per Message 5
Available under two objectives
● Website visits- Must have at least one CTA
button leading to a webpage
● Lead generation - Must have at least one CTA
button with a Lead Gen Form
Sender options
● Individual Senders - Approved senders will
automatically appear in Campaign Manager
● Company Senders - Request the company
sender feature on behalf of your clients here

16. Options for your CTA buttons (25 Characters Max)
Prompt the Next
Message
Message
Copy: 500
Characters
max
Click to a
Lead Gen
Form
Click to an
external landing
page
300 x 250 pixel
Banner Image
(jpg or png)
*Desktop Only
Click to a landing
page
Click to a Lead Gen Form
Message Copy: 500
Characters max
Prompt the Next
Message

17. Best Practices for Campaign Set-Up
Use macros!
Macros allow you to pull a member’s LinkedIn profile data into your
ad. We offer these the following macros:
● First name- %FIRSTNAME%
● Last name- %LASTNAME%
● Job title- %JOBTITLE%
● Company name- %COMPANYNAME%
● Industry- %INDUSTRY%
These will make your content feel more relevant to the individuals
receiving it, so be sure to leverage them in your message text
throughout the conversation.
Use multiple messages & buttons
Remember, your conversation should have 3-5 layers! Each layer
will consist of message text and at least 2 CTA buttons with
responses to the question in your message.

18. Don’t forget - this a human interaction!
First impressions matter
When using an individual as a sender, use your opening message to
introduce yourself and let members know why you’re reaching out.
You should include:
● Your name
● Your title
● The company you represent
Be conversational
Keep your copy short and conversational, so your ad feels more
personal. Consider using language that is more casual, the way you
would over the phone.
Introduce yourself and/or your company
Don’t forget to introduce yourself! Let your audience know who
you are and why you’re reaching

19. Keep these tips in mind
Keep your copy short and sweet
Conversation Ads are meant to feel more like a live conversation.
Keep your messages short and friendly, and don’t forget about the
character limits.
Don’t include “Not Interested” CTA’s
Prospects who aren’t interested will just close the ad. Instead, focus
on using CTA’s that you can actually learn from.
Be creative!
With all of the flexibility in the product, Conversation Ads can be
used in a variety of ways. Don’t be afraid to experiment!

20. How to Set Up
a Campaign
Getting Started in Campaign
Manager

21. Log into Campaign Manager and click “Create Campaign.”
Select either “Website visits” or “Lead Generation”
Please note: While you can only select Conversation Ad
format under “Website visits”, you can still use this ad format
to drive other marketing objectives such as build brand
awareness, driving leads on your landing page, driving event
registration, and more.

22. Next you’ll begin setting up your campaign.
Select your location & language of choice. Continue to set up your targeting as usual.

23. Select “Conversation Ad” as your ad format.

24. Once you select your ad format, set your budget, schedule & bid type.
Once you’re done, hit “Save and next.”
Note that for Conversation
Ads, pricing will remain the
same as Sponsored InMail.
You will be billed on a Cost
Per Send.

25. Next, click “Create new ad.”
This will allow you to start building your creative.

26. Begin building your ad.
Name your ad, select a sender, and add a banner creative.
Insert your custom footer here, if
applicable.
If you are using the Website visits
Objective, click “Build your
conversation” and go to slide 30
Insert your 300x250 banner.
This banner won’t be clickable.
Select your sender: either an
individual or your company.

27. If you are using the Lead Generation objective...
Name your ad, select a sender, and add a banner creative.
Select your Lead Gen Form here, or
create a new one if Lead Generation is
your objective.
Insert your custom footer here, if
applicable.

28. If you’d like build a new Lead Gen Form, you’ll do that now.
Note: This creation flow
will open in a new tab.
Once you finish building
your Conversation Ad,
you can close the tab to
go back to the
Conversation Ad draft

29. You’ll then be back in this view
Click ‘Build your conversation to continue
To proceed, click “Build your conversation.”

30. Start creating your conversation.
This is where you’ll have your opening message, and the corresponding calls-to-action.
Begin with your opening message.
Don’t forget to use macros! The
message character limit is 500.
Then add your first call-to-action
button! The character limit is 25.

31. Start creating your conversation.
This is where you’ll have your opening message, and the corresponding calls-to-action.
Use this dropdown to indicate
where that CTA button should lead.
You have three options
Show next message: if you select
this, you will have to create a
subsequent message
Link to an external page: this should
be the landing page you want to
drive traffic to.
Add a LGF: Add a new or existing
LGF Click here to add another
button

32. Continue to create your call-to-action buttons.
Insert your second CTA button here
As you build your content, the
preview on the right will update.
Note that red font in previews
means the button is not
complete.

33. Next, click “edit next message.”
This is where you’ll enter the responses that a member see’s after clicking your CTA button.
TIP! You can also
edit buttons by
clicking on them in
the preview.

34. Insert your follow-up message here.
Note that the preview will tell you which button the follow-up message corresponds with
If you’d like to add another
CTA button, click here
Follow up message
goes here

35. Add the call-to-action button for your follow-up message.
The new call-to-action button will appear under the corresponding message in the preview
New CTA
New
CTA
New message
copy
New message
copy
Actions
your button
can take

36. Once you’ve completed the CTA button, it will turn blue.
Repeat this step for any incomplete CTA buttons remaining by clicking on the button in the
preview
This button is
complete
Success! The
completed button
is now blue
Click “Edit next
message” to
complete this
button

37. Once you finish, hit “Create”
to save your ad.
Make sure you’ve included at least
one CTA button that leads to a
website if you are using the Website
visit objective.
If you are using the Lead Generation
objective, one CTA button must lead
to a lead form.

38. Select the ellipses to send
yourself a test drop. It will
appear in your LinkedIn
inbox.
Review the ad, QA that all
links drive to the correct
websites or LGFs, and
launch your campaign.

39. How to get
reporting
Measure the metrics that matter in
Campaign Manager

40. You can view reporting in Campaign Manager
Total opens and button clicks are represented in the reporting dashboard
Be sure to switch
your view to
“Sponsored InMail”
To view LGF data,
just switch your view
to “Conversions And
Leads”

41. You can view reporting in Campaign Manager
Clicks on each button can be found in the exported .CSV report
Report type: “Click-by-click
ad performance”
This report will show the
number of clicks on each
button
There are “Total” rows that
sum up data in each
column. Be sure to
disregard these rows if
you’re doing your own
calculations, pivot tables,
etc.

42. Definitions of reporting metrics
Metric Definition
Sends Number of times your ad was sent (i.e. impressions)
Opens Number of times your ad was opened (unique opens)
Clicks Sum of clicks on CTA buttons and link clicks
Button Clicks Sum of clicks on CTA buttons
Banner Clicks N/A - The banner is not clickable in a conversation ad
Link Clicks Clicks in the message body
Please note: currently, text cannot be hyperlinked in the body, but if the message includes URLs or numbers, these
are automatically linked when viewed on mobile. Clicks on these links are tracked as Link Clicks.
Open rate % of Opens divided by Sends
Click to Open rate % of Clicks divided by Opens
Cost per send Spend divided by Sends
Cost per open Spend divided by Opens
Average CPC Spend divided by Clicks

43. What metrics should you use to evaluate campaign performance?
Website Visits Objective
Cost Per Send
Open Rate
Lead Fill Rate
Lead Generation Objective
Click Through Rate
Cost Per Lead
Cost Per Click
Lead Form Open Rate
Upper Funnel
Mid Funnel
Lower Funnel
Cost Per Action
Yes Yes
Yes Yes
Yes No
No Yes
Yes No
Yes (Website Action, Event
Registration, Conversion Event,
etc)
No
No Yes
No Yes
Evaluate your campaign based on your objectives and goals. Use this matrix as a guide to
help you select metrics to track success at each stage of the funnel.

44. Thank you!